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In Syria.. Israeli Strike Eliminates Engineer of Operation That Targeted U.S. Military
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The timing of announcing the death of the Karbala attack planner indicates Washington's desire to show joint successes with Israel in targeting their adversaries
In the context of ongoing Israeli operations inside Syrian territory for years, a recent strike successfully targeted a strategic figure of interest to Washington.
A senior U.S. military official revealed the death of a prominent Hezbollah commander, who helped orchestrate one of the most daring and complex operations against U.S. forces during the Iraq War, in an Israeli strike on Syria.
He indicated that the target was commander Ali Mussa Daqduq, who was killed in an undisclosed Israeli attack in Syria. He stated that Washington lacks information about the strike's circumstances regarding its timing and location in Syria, and whether it specifically targeted Daqduq, according to NBC Network.
The official noted that U.S. forces arrested Daqduq following a raid in 2007, after an operation that killed 5 U.S. soldiers by elements disguised as an American security team, before Iraqi authorities later released him.
He explained that the complex attack Daqduq helped plan targeted a joint U.S.-Iraqi military compound in Karbala on January 20, 2007.
In detail, it was revealed that an armed group disguised as an American military security team, carrying American weapons, with some members fluent in English, which facilitated their passage through checkpoints until they reached a building housing American and Iraqi soldiers.
The building was part of the "Joint Security Stations" system in Iraq, where U.S. forces coexist with their Iraqi counterparts, and more than 20 American soldiers were present when the attackers arrived.
After the militants surrounded the building and used hand grenades and explosives to breach the entrance, an American soldier fell due to a grenade explosion. After storming the building, the militants kidnapped two American soldiers from inside and two others from outside before quickly withdrawing via waiting SUVs.
American attack helicopters pursued the convoy, forcing the militants to abandon their vehicles and flee on foot. During their withdrawal, they killed the four American soldiers.
In March 2007, U.S. forces managed to arrest Daqduq and interrogate him for years, then handed him over to Iraqi authorities in December 2011. He resumed his activities with Hezbollah shortly after his release.
It's worth noting that Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in Syria since the conflict erupted in 2011, claiming to target Iranian sites and others belonging to Hezbollah.
Israeli attacks have intensified in recent weeks with the escalation of confrontation with Lebanon, noting that Tel Aviv rarely confirms responsibility for strikes in Syria, but insists on countering Iran's efforts to entrench its military presence there, and has not made any statements about the possibility of eliminating Daqduq or others.
Levant-Agencies
